Iran launches oil bourse

The long-delayed Iranian Oil Bourse (IOB) will start operations on Sunday, the official Iranian news agency IRNA said, citing the country's oil minister.

The exchange, based on the Gulf island of Kish, a free trade zone, opens with a whimper, rather than the promised roar. The IOB has long been touted by Iranian news agencies as a petrobourse for petroleum, petrochemicals and gas in various non-dollar currencies, primarily the euro, which would have a negative impact on the US economy and financial system. Yet trading will start on the bourse with two or three petrochemical products and Iranian rials will be used for all transactions.

Iran, the second-largest producer in OPEC, was originally expected to start its own oil-trading market in 2005. Yet the exchange has missed at least three announced opening dates and was further delayed by the complete elimination of internet connectivity to the country, which sparked conspiracy theories over who would have felt threatened enough to cut the cables.  The success of the bourse depends on unlikely cooperation with other OPEC members as well as a much-needed consensus from Gulf States.